County Road 18 offers a whole new definition of nasty

A major artery in northern Scott County is in such nasty shape that officials are asking drivers to slow down while using it -- and are considering forcing them to by reducing the speed limit.

The warning comes within days of a major report on the rapid decaying of the state's roads and a controversial fix for that problem: The Legislature this week imposed an increase in the gas tax.

County Road 18, an important route for people in Prior Lake, Savage and Shakopee heading toward the river crossing at Hwy. 169, is "tenting," experts say. It's heaving upward in tent-like form, so that driving it feels like surfing.

"People are calling us and asking, 'Are you aware of how bad this is?'" said Mitch Rasmussen, the county's highway engineer. "And we are saying, 'Yes, we are.' In fact, we knew before the phone calls started, because of the guys who plow that road. Just imagine the jolt you get in the cab from putting the plow down and hitting every bump."

Fortunately, he said Thursday, the county will get some financial help. The state's Department of Transportation is just as curious about what's causing the problem and will pay for testing to diagnose what's going so badly wrong.

The past few weeks have been a period of intense focus on road conditions: A report from the nonpartisan Legislative Auditor warning of grim conditions, and legislators' override of Gov. Tim Pawlenty's veto of a gas-tax increase to start addressing them.

"There is a connection," Rasmussen said, between those two events and what Scott County motorists experience -- and not just on 18.

"The state keeps statistics on pavement conditions, and they are getting worse every year," he said. "That's a function of insufficient funding. Our whole infrastructure is not in the condition today that it was five years ago."

'Getting poorer'

Deb Junod, project manager for the auditor's study, said that one important message was: "Poor roads are getting poorer. What you're describing from Scott County sounds like a road condition in the poorest of categories. If they are thinking of changing speed limits, that would be clearly toward the bottom."

The timeline for a fix on 18 depends on what's discovered in the testing process, officials said. It could take until mid-summer. By May the thawing of the ground should allow the heaving portions to settle back and make driving less eventful.

Scott County recently hosted Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin, who leads a metro-wide group of county officials addressing transportation needs. He was taken on a bone-rattling tour of bad roads.

On Thursday, McLaughlin shook his head to hear of the latest warnings, but also noted that the gas-tax increase will help.

"The pent-up need is great," he said, "but we're thrilled we got it passed. It is clearly going to make a dent in a long list of projects we absolutely need."

David Peterson • 952-882-9023